Skulls of the Shogun

Working in the fast-moving field of electronic gaming journalism can be dangerous. If I'm not watching the latest trailer for Gunface Organ-Splatter: Uncensored Edition, I'm likely to be quivering in a corner because the latest trailer for Gunface Organ-Splatter: Uncensored Edition contained one too many close-ups of quivering viscera. Such things are not ideal viewing through the hazy veil of an insomniac's hangover. Today, I…

"When people call Microsoft 'evil', it's kind of an undeserved compliment. To be evil, you have to have vision, you have to have communication, execution..." Rewind three years, to the Eurogamer Expo, London, October 2010. The staff of Rock, Paper, Shotgun are discussing which game from the Indie Arcade we would decree to be our game of the show. Messhof's sadly still-private swordfighting micro-epic Nidhogg…

I'm going to have a full interview about the strange, sad tale of how/why excellent TBS Skulls of the Shogun so bewilderingly ended up as a Windows 8 exclusive, and how it all went so, so wrong, up on the site tomorrow. Meantime, let's share the good news - this ace, very funny and tight undead Samurai battler is now free from its Microsoftian chains,…

Undead ancient Japanese warrior-themed. indie strategy game Skulls of the Shogun has been in development for four million years, and was finally released yesterday for PC, Xbox and Windows tellingbone. Well, only for Windows 8 PCs. Yeah, controversy/insanity. But what about the turn-based strategy at the heart of it? I've only gone and played it so I can tell you.

Sometimes, I wonder what I'd be if all my superfluous life fluff were stripped away, and I was left with my barest essentials. Would I end up a lover? A fighter? A frozen, naked coward? It's tough to say, but I quite like Skulls of the Shogun's (extremely literal) supposition. Stripped of my skin, muscles, eyeballs, and blood, I'd be a samurai. A skeleton samurai.…

Skulls of the Shogun may have tickled your angry bone when 17-Bit announced that the turn-based battler will be a Windows 8 exclusive, but there are some benefits to that decision. Foremost, as the developer told us, it means getting to launch simultaneously on PC and Xbox. And now, another rather nice silver lining has made its way out from behind all the rage clouds: Skulls of the…

Today's Big Noisy Fight is the matter of appealing zombie-samurai TBS Skulls of the Shogun controversially restricting its PC version to Windows 8. Following the (probably inevitable) unhappiness in comments, Borut Pfiefer of dev 17-BIT Studios followed-up on his reasoning for exclusively tying Skulls' flag to Microsoft's latest mast. Specifically, that it's apparently to do with getting at least some kind of PC version out…

Having seen/played it back on PC at the Eurogamer Expo two years ago, I had become fearful that undead samurai-starring turn-based strategy game Skulls of the Shogun's increasing assocation with Xbox meant it might never find its way onto IBM Compatibles. At E3, it wound up back on the promotional circuit, confirming a release on XBLA, Windows Phone and... Windows 8. Wait. What? Windows 8…

One project RPS is following with intrigue, Skulls Of The Shogun, has released a "début trailer" on PAX East. A strange term bearing in mind the previous two trailers. But it matters not a jot when this new trail is such fun.

The past couple of weeks I've been playing a preview version of the delightful turn-based strategy, Skulls Of The Shogun. It's a game about skull-eating Samurai in the after-life, and it's a tactical pleasure. I decided it might be a good idea to talk to Haunted Temple's Borut Pfeifer about the game, and you can read the chat we had, below.

I always thought that if I ever had a son, I'd call him Turn-Based Indie Game Smith. Such is my love of turn-based indie games. Ha! I'm joking, of course. I can't have a son. Not after what Kieron did to my testicles during the RPS joining ceremony*. So you can imagine how thrilled I was at the chance to play Skulls Of The Shogun…